“Into the Wind”

Recently, I enjoyed a walk over lunch—on what was a very windy day! During this brisk walk into the wind, I realized that this constant headwind must be a metaphor for an entrepreneur’s daily life.

Turn to the west and the gale winds of regulation are pronounced. From the north to the south, the competitive gusts are relentless.

To the east, we get forced healthcare, draining entrepreneurial capital and weakening the entrepreneur’s spirit.

These issues matter greatly because entrepreneurship and new business formation remain essential to our nation’s economic health. Small businesses create 62 percent of all new jobs in the United States. Twenty-eight million small businesses employ 60 million of us!

Small businesses make good neighbors. They provide jobs in our communities. They pay billions in taxes and create the unglamorous but necessary foundations of our economic prosperity.

To date, our government has plugged its economic solar engine into monetary policy (with the goal of full employment and minimal inflation). The result: tepid growth and lackluster results. Today, after the Great Recession, we have too much liquidity in the economy with a regulatory reform overcorrection.

The time for fiscal policy reform is now. (Mohamed El-Erian drives home this point in his excellent book, The Only Game in Town.) With the appropriate fiscal policy, including tax reforms and a reduced regulatory burden on small businesses and community banks, our economic fortunes will experience not only gusts but also sustainable winds.

Through proper fiscal policy, the government can play a necessary role in creating an environment for entrepreneurs to grow and hire. Having the regulatory wind at your back, if you will—creates the indispensable momentum for entrepreneurs.

We shall see if this fall’s elections create the cooperative winds of change.